EMU to begin private interviews for president

YPSILANTI -- Officials at Eastern Michigan University plan to begin confidential interviews next month with candidates to become the Ypsilanti school's next president.

The Presidential Search Advisory Committee met for about three hours Friday morning at an off-campus site. The group evaluated a variety of candidates as it continued to narrow down the list of people it will meet face to face, said Regent Jim Stapleton, the committee co-chairman.

Now the committee's private search firm, The Compass Group of Birmingham, will conduct more analysis, including background checks and some of its own interviews before presenting the committee a pool of candidates for a first round of private interviews, Stapleton said.

Stapleton, who is overseeing the committee's work along with fellow Regent Roy Wilbanks, wouldn't specify how many people EMU might begin interviewing next month, nor would he comment on specific candidates.

Stapleton said the search has drawn more than 130 applications or nominations. He said the committee, which has met six times, hopes to name a president by the end of this academic year and have EMU's new leader in place before school starts next fall.

Stapleton said candidates won't be publicly named until EMU determines a group of several finalists, who will meet the campus community early in the spring.

Before that, the Board of Regents will talk to a group of about five candidates privately before making the final cut, Wilbanks said.

Stapleton said that top candidates already have good jobs, and should not be put in a difficult position with their present employers before they are named a finalist."

The only way the process maintains its integrity and can attract top candidates is if it's kept confidential until the last minute," he said.

Wilbanks said the initial pool of candidates included people from EMU, the Ypsilanti community, from around Michigan and out of state. "I think we have a strong pool in terms of breadth of experiences and (people) who've had a great career path," he said.

The new president will succeed John Fallon, who was fired last July 16. Provost Don Loppnow is serving as executive vice president and EMU's interim leader.